Community remembers soldier, teen killed in crash

A community is in grief after a crash killed a veteran father of two and a 14-year-old beloved by his classmates.

"I don't want to drop it," said Pamela Sinks, as she carried two angels down Highway 13 in Cunningham. "I feel like something needs to be here."

Sinks made her way to the spot where she watched the crash that took two lives Saturday.

"My grandchildren and I were standing on the pond bank right there," said Sinks."I heard the car running off the road and when I looked back, he was into the tree, and he had flipped."

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, driver Wes Harris lost control of the vehicle, the crash killing both he and 14-year-old passenger Kyle Rogers.

"I sent my grandson to the house to have my mother call 911, and I ran down to the car to try to see if I could get a response," said Sinks. "They must have been unconscious, because they didn't answer me."

Family members said Harris was a husband and father of two girls and a Fort Campbell soldier who deployed to Afghanistan twice.

Rogers was a close family friend, just like a younger brother to Harris, and an avid hunter who played football last year at Montgomery Central High.

"Montgomery Central is a very tight-knit community, and we take care of our own when something happens," said Montgomery Central High assistant principal Steven Roberts. "Our hearts just go out to the family during this very difficult time, and we're there to support them and do whatever we can."

The students at the school held a prayer vigil in Rogers' memory Monday and have set up a fund to benefit the family at First Advantage Bank in Clarksville.

"It looks like they're talking to each other, the way they're facing each other," said Sinks, motioning to the two angels she placed next to the tree. "Maybe they had last words they said to each other."

Standing at the scene, glass and orange paint still on the blades of grass, Sinks said she only hopes the families know of all the thoughts and prayers with two friends with a strong bond.

"In time, in time it will get better," said Sinks.

Rogers' family told Channel 4 they want the community to know how much they appreciate all the support and condolences.